


Reporters

by Beth Harker (Beth_Harker)



Category: Newsies (1992)
Genre: Canon Era, Gen, Post canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-23
Updated: 2013-03-23
Packaged: 2019-09-27 21:02:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17169341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beth_Harker/pseuds/Beth%20Harker
Summary: Denton gives David a shot at writing for the Sun.





	Reporters

“I think I can get my paper to publish it,” Denton said, putting David’s article down on the table.

“Really?” David seemed doubtful, oddly enough. Denton knew that he wouldn’t have come here brandishing that piece of paper of his if he hadn’t had some faith that Denton could get it published, yet now it seemed like he couldn’t quite believe that it might happen.

“Really,” Denton repeated. He enjoyed saying it. Across the table from him, David bit his lip to keep from smiling too broadly, cautious still. Denton didn’t try to repress his own grin. 

He hadn’t expected to become so involved in the newsies and their struggles that summer, when the strike had happened. He’d thought that it was just another story, a bit of breaking news that he got to be the first to cover, and would be among the first to forget about once it was all over. Sure, he’d picked up that particular narrative because it had represented a lot of the problems he saw in modern society, but he was a big shot reporter with lots of fish of that sort to fry. He’d thought that letting people know what was happening might be doing good in some tiny way, sure, but it hadn’t been personal. He’d been covering the strike for what those boys, the newsies, represented. He hadn’t started out doing it for the sake of the newsies themselves.

Well, that had all changed now. At some point around the time that those kids had appointed him the King of New York, they’d also manage to lodge themselves in his mind, and made Denton realize that he had to do everything he could to help them dig themselves out of the hole that the good people of New York were doing their very best to bury them in. 

“You’ll have to make a few changes,” Denton said, going serious again. David was the sort who responded well to being spoken to like and adult, and would most likely respond badly to having something he’d written altered without his prior knowledge. 

“What changes?” David asked. 

“You can’t say that you’re writing in response to the World’s Social Darwinism article. If you’re going to criticize another paper, you can’t be so direct about it. Say you’re writing about an article in a ‘certain well known publication’ that wrongfully attempted to apply the theories of Charles Darwin to the lives of the city’s downtrodden.” 

“That’s good. It’s really good.” David reached across the table for a pen, losing no time in scratching out and rewriting the introduction to his article. 

“I’ve been at this for a while,” Denton said. “It’s a game I know how to play. You also have to be careful about mentioning the newsies, as per your agreement with terms the World set for you at the end of the strike.”

“The agreement only said that we couldn’t bring up the strike in any public forum, not that the newsies ought to go into hiding and deny our own existance.” 

Denton nodded. “That’s true. Try mentioning the newsies as part of a list of other similar focus groups. It will keep your article from causing trouble.” 

“What if I want it to cause trouble?” There was a flash of something in David’s eye as he spoke, that made Denton fairly certain that trouble would be something that David Jacobs would be causing quite a lot of once he got older. 

“As a journalist you’ll have plenty of chances to cause trouble. Trust me. You need to use those chances wisely. If you cause too much trouble all at once, you’ll be kicked off your paper before it’s off the presses. If you bring it out in the right doses, and know how to use it as a tool, you’ll live to muckrake another day.”

David was quiet for a few minutes, his expression contemplative. 

“What?” Denton asked. 

“You just called me a journalist. Am I?”

“You’ve just written a newspaper article, haven’t you?”

David nodded.

“Are you going to write more?”

Another nod, very slow and serious this time. David recognized an offer when he heard one. It came back to what Denton had been thinking about before. The newsies weren’t something he could extricate himself from, now that he’d become involved. As far as that group of boys went, David was a very easy one to help. He already had a lot going for him. All he really needed was somebody to give him a shot, and who knew how many of the others he’d drag upwards with him once he was on his way. 

“We’ll have to see about getting more of your work published, then, and talk more seriously about compensation.”

David’s eyes went a little wider at that. The grin he’d been trying to hold back was becoming more and more evident. 

“Pieces are accepted or rejected on a case by case basis when you’re new at this,” Denton continued. “Sometimes a piece of writing that you’re particularly proud of will never see the light of day. You should also keep in mind that it isn’t the best idea to drop out of school and dedicate yourself to writing full time. Not yet. For one thing, your parents will hardly be willing to let me show you the ropes if I were to prevent you from graduating.” 

“I understand,” David said quickly. “A lot of the ideas in the story were Jack’s. You’ll make sure he gets credited as well?”

Denton nodded. He’d known that Jack had played a hand in the article from the fact that Jack’s name was written boldly at the top of the paper right next to David’s, but it was nice of David to make sure. 

“Why don’t you go on and tell Jack the good news?” Denton suggested.

“You mean that we’re hired?” 

Denton laughed at that. “Sure. That you’re hired.”


End file.
